San Francisco Opera invites you and your family to attend FREE screenings of our Opera-in-an-Hour Movies presented throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn about where you can catch a screening of our family friendly operas, click here.

Everyone knows that the opening night Opera Ball is a glamorous event full of flowers, decorations, food, libations and of course, fashion! But there are many who attend the opening night performance alone, without attending one of the galas--and we wouldn't want them to miss out on the glamor! Every year, Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey donates a beautiful, hand crafted and unique flower garland to adorn the boxes of the War Memorial Opera House. To most of us, the flowers seem to simply appear on opening night to add a colorful, whimsical decorative element to the special evening...but we knew there was more to it than that. This time, we decided to find out a little bit more about the people and process behind the opening night flower garland. And boy, did we learn a lot!

Last Thursday on August 16th, the San Francisco Opera's BRAVO! Club officially kicked off the 21th Annual Opening Gala under the glitz and glamor of the CODE Salon and The Factory Label. Over 150 BRAVO! Gala ticket holders and their guests were invited to celebrate this year's Gala in style.

Have you seen the August issue of Opera News? The cover story is called “Opera’s Next Wave: The Voices and Faces of the Future.” It’s a great article, and well worth reading while it’s still out on newsstands. Here at San Francisco Opera, we couldn’t help but swell with pride at how many familiar faces graced the pages of this article. Quite a good number of these up and coming opera stars have performed on the War Memorial Opera House stage in the last several years or are scheduled to make debuts in the near future. Which of these fine young musicians, which Opera News predicts will “break out and become major forces in the field in the coming decade,” have we brought to Bay Area audiences lately? Allow us a trip down memory lane. [Left: Luca Pisaroni in The Marriage of Figaro]

My job at San Francisco Opera as video director is to work with the production team, the artists and the media team to direct the capture of each opera for television and theatrical distribution. I have been directing at the opera for 5 years. Rigoletto was my first plazacast to the civic center and it was very well received. David Gockley had the idea of building an HD suite on the 5th floor of the opera house and I was fortunate to be hired as the resident video director. I have directed all of the AT&T Ballpark simulcasts and over 25 operas for OperaVision, television and theatrical distribution. Over the last five years, two other directors--Christine Strand and Bob Harnett—have also directed some of the operas.

For our new production of Don Giovanni the design requirement called for 22 large mirrors in ornate gilded frames. The mirrors all needed to be reflective to the audience but also see through, like mirrors in a police lineup room. The design intent was to have each of the mirror’s speed and position controlled independently. Below is one of 30 stunning renderings drawn by set designer Alessandro Camera.

Introduction

Backstage at San Francisco Opera is a fascinating, fast-moving, mysterious and sacred space for the Company’s singers, musicians, dancers, technicians and production crews. Musical and staging rehearsals are on-going, scenery is loaded in and taken out, lighting cues are set, costumes and wigs are moved around and everything is made ready to receive the audience. From the principal singers, chorus and orchestra musicians to the creative teams for each opera, in addition to the many talented folks who don’t take a bow on stage, this blog offers unique insight, both thought-provoking and light-hearted, into the life backstage at San Francisco Opera.